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Lance Simmens brings "An Inconvenient Truth" to Georgia Southern
Lance Simmens for Web
Lance Simmens - photo by FILE

Global warming

Lance Simmens discusses global warming.

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    Global warming is a threat that needs to be addressed immediately, but it hasn't reached the point in which it's too late to do anything about it.
    That's the message of Lance Simmens, who was at Georgia Southern Monday night to deliver an abridged version of the slide show "An Inconvenient Truth" about global warming.
    Simmens, who is currently serving as Special Assistant for Intergovernmental Affairs to Pennsylvania Governor Ed Randell, said his messages was one of hope that there is still time to stave off the potential disasters from global warming.
    "I try to focus more on the solutions," he said. "Together, through individual and collective actions, I think we can address this problem."
    He was among the first 250 people selected by former Vice President Al Gore to attend a training session to present "An Inconvenient Truth" and to be trained on all the scientific data contained in the documentary and then spread the message.
    After being certified, Simmens has spent time in Pennsylvania giving his presentation, but he wanted to come to Georgia Southern, where he graduated.
    "This is a very serious issue and something that needs to be addressed and it needs to be addressed immediately, but it's not that we're doomed," he said. "We can deal with this problem and it has be a very comprehensive approach."
    Simmens said there were simple things people could do to help reduce their "carbon footprint," including taking shorter showers, combining errands, using compact fluorescent bulbs to save not only money, but the environment as well.
    "Things that we do right here in Statesboro have an impact on lands very far away," he said. "Things we put in the atmosphere don't just stay over Statesboro or Georgia or the United States. They're transported all around the world."
    He said there is no real scientific debate about the validity of global warming, saying in the latest report from the United Nations, the biggest debate on the issue was whether humans were 90 percent or 99 percent responsible.
    "I'll take those odds and go to Las Vegas any day of the week," he said.
    Simmens said global warming is not a political issue, but a moral issue that will affect several generations.
    "It is morally inappropriate for us to not leave this world a better place than which we found it," he said. "The question is not will the earth survive, but will it survive and be inhabitable."
    In addition to being a moral issue, Simmens also argues that global warming could be a national security issue as resources become more scarce due to climate changes and the earth's population continues to increase.
    "I'm fond of saying in my presentation that if you're the only thing standing between food and my kids, I'm probably going to act very irrationally to make sure their need for food is met," he said. "History is full of examples of wars being fought over scarce resources."
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